The Aquarium

Laila is the host of a late night radio show, where listeners confess their secret unrequited love. One of her listeners, Youssef, is an anesthetist who likes listening to his patients’ ramblings. Living generally lonely and barely evolving existences, they observe others in their surroundings, waiting for life and meaning to come to them. Both of them have old and demanding parents, and when Laila and Youssef are finally brought together, they simply understand what’s wrong with their lives and how lonely they both are.

The Aquarium is a two-hour metaphysical journey through the ancient city of Cairo, as well as a critical look at modern-day middleclass Egyptian society. Making the viewer aware that they are in fact watching a film, the characters talk directly to the camera. The distinctively dark and spatial cinematography is reminiscent of expressionism, and blends well with the otherworldly score and the panoramas of Cairo.

Premiere Status
Nordic Premiere: Orig. title
Genenet al asmak: Cast
Hend Sabry, Amr Waked, Gamil Rateb, Bassem Samra, Ahmed El Fichawy, Dorra Zarouk, Menha El Batraoui, Tamim Abdou: Producer
Gabriel Khoury: Script
Yousry Nasrallah, Nasser Abdel-Rahmane: Cinematography
Samir Bahsan: Music
Tamer Karawan: Spoken language
Arabic